Illinois state executive official elections, 2016
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None Down Ballot Comptroller (special) |
One state executive office in Illinois
was
up for election in 2016:
Context of the 2016 elections
Party control
Illinois has a divided government. The governor is a Republican, but the Senate and House are controlled by Democrats. Illinois generally leans Democratic. Illinois has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H. W. Bush's first race in 1988. Similarly, in three of the past four gubernatorial races, Illinois voters elected the Democratic candidate (2002, 2006, and 2010).
However, the Republican Party has made recent gains in statewide elections. Going into the 2016 elections, Illinois was represented in the United States Senate by one Democrat, Dick Durbin, and one Republican, Mark Kirk, who was elected in 2010. In the 2014 race, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner ousted the Democratic incumbent by a 4% margin.
Comptroller election
Going into the 2016 elections, the comptroller was Leslie Munger (R). Munger was appointed to the position by Republican Governor Rauner to replace fellow Republican Judy Baar Topinka, who had been elected twice to the position and passed away just one month after winning re-election. Topinka first won the seat in 2010 by over 450,000 votes. She won re-election in 2014 by a narrower margin of less than 4%.
This could have suggested a Republican advantage for the comptroller seat. However, these elections were midterm elections, which have a significantly smaller voter turnout than presidential election years do. Increased voter turnout tends to help Democrats, especially in traditionally blue states like Illinois. Given this, the comptroller election was expected to be more contentious than usual.
2016 elections
Comptroller
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Voter registration
November 30, 2015 |
March 15, 2016 |
June 27, 2016 |
September 8, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
TBD |
TBD |
For full information about voting in Illinois, contact the state election agency.
Registration
Illinois utilizes a mixed primary system. Voters do not have to register with a party, but they do have to choose, publicly, which party's ballot they will vote on in the primary election.[3]
To vote in Illinois, you must meet the following requirements:[4]
| “ |
☐ Must be a US citizen; |
” |
| —Illinois State Board of Elections | ||
Online registration
- See also: Online voter registration
Illinois has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.
Past elections
2015
There were no state executive elections in Illinois in 2015.
2014
There were six state executive offices up for election including governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and two down ballot offices.
- Illinois down ballot state executive elections, 2014
- Illinois gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2014
- Illinois Attorney General election, 2014
- Illinois Secretary of State election, 2014
- Illinois state executive official elections, 2014
Comptroller
Topinka ran for election to the office of Illinois Comptroller in 2014.[6]
Topinka was uncontested in the March 18 Republican primary. She faced Democratic incumbent Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon in the general election. Libertarian Julie Fox was also on the ballot. Illinois state executive official elections, 2016 won the general election on November 4, 2014.
Results
| Illinois Controller, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Judy Baar Topinka Incumbent |
49.6% | 1,775,983 | |
| Democratic | Sheila Simon | 45.7% | 1,636,593 | |
| Libertarian | Julie Fox | 4.8% | 170,534 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0% | 176 | |
| Total Votes | 3,583,286 | |||
| Election results via Illinois State Board of Elections | ||||
2013
There were no state executive elections in Illinois in 2013.
2012
There were no state executive elections in Illinois in 2012.
2010
Topinka won election as comptroller in the November 2, 2010 election.[7]
| Illinois State Comptroller, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Judy Baar Topinka |
52.6% | 1,927,139 | |
| Democratic | David E. Miller | 40.9% | 1,497,263 | |
| Libertarian | Julie Fox | 3.3% | 121,068 | |
| Green | R. Erika Schafer | 3.2% | 116,712 | |
| Total Votes | 3,662,182 | |||
| Election results via Follow the Money | ||||
State profile
| Demographic data for Illinois | ||
|---|---|---|
| Illinois | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 12,839,047 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 55,519 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 72.3% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 14.3% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 5% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 16.5% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 87.9% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 32.3% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $57,574 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 16.8% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Illinois. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Illinois
Illinois voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 11 are located in Illinois, accounting for 5.34 percent of the total pivot counties.[8]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Illinois had 11 Retained Pivot Counties, 6.08 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Illinois coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Illinois
- United States congressional delegations from Illinois
- Public policy in Illinois
- Endorsers in Illinois
- Illinois fact checks
- More...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Illinois state executive elections' OR 'Illinois state elections' 2016. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Illinois | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Rep. Mendoza," archived December 5, 2010
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 WGN TV, "Rauner to appoint Leslie Munger as next Illinois comptroller," January 5, 2015
- ↑ Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Registering to Vote in Illinois," accessed January 3, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Judy Baar Topinka 2014 Official campaign website, "Press release:TOPINKA DELIVERS ‘COMMON SENSE’ TO MT. VERNON, LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN," September 17, 2013
- ↑ Illinois Board of Elections, "November 2010 General Election Results," accessed April 2, 2011
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
